What do three metronomes, an upright piano placed in
the middle of an aisle, a gong, two rapping trombonists and a gospel singer
all have in common? They all have original music composed just for them
- music that will be performed as Wayland Baptist University's Division
of Fine Arts presents a recital of original musical compositions by faculty
and student composers at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30 in Harral Memorial
Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

"But seating is limited to the first 1,200 people," joked Dr. Gary Belshaw,
assistant professor of piano pedagogy, who organized the event.

Belshaw
encourages people not to have any preconceived notions about what they
might hear.

"We will present some music that was composed within the last two years,
and music that was composed as far back as 1966. The compositions on the
recital run the gamut from gospel to eclectic, from Latin to Pointillism
and beyond," Belshaw said.

The recital will feature the work of eight composers,
all either students or members of the Wayland faculty.

There
will be a few surprises at the recital, including a gong and multiple
performers scattered throughout the auditorium.

Dr. Carl C. Moman, professor of music, will have three
compositions performed on the program. "Give Me Jesus" is a gospel song
composed in 2004 for voice and piano with text by celebrated hymn author
Fanny Crosby. Senior Andrea Turner of Plainview will sing the piece, accompanied
by Jennie Lynn Hodges on piano. "Christ in Me" is an SATB jazz vocal number
originally written for a church youth vocal ensemble. The accompaniment
includes piano, guitars and percussion; the text is by Phyllis Garlick.
"White and Red" is the oldest composition presented on the program, composed
in 1966 for a capella SATB choir to a text by William Shakespeare.

Robert
Black, assistant professor of music and director of church music, composed
his Sonatina for clarinet and piano in 1971 in his undergraduate days
at Baylor University. The Sonatina comprises three shorter compositions,
called movements.

"The entire Sonatina is composed of harmonies that will be much less familiar
to popular music listeners," Belshaw explained, "especially to the churched.
This is the kind of music that film composers and composers of other serious
music relish, because there are so many more things that can be said with
it."

Sophomore
Kelsie Jackson of Plainview is one of the Wayland students whose music
will be premiered at the recital. Three of his compositions will be presented:
"Genesis One: Three" is composed for unaccompanied clarinet and is intended
to portray aurally the event of the creation of light. His "let's Touch
the sky" [sic] for two clarinets and "Canon" for two clarinets will also
be featured.

Senior John Ed Baker of Odessa will also have three
compositions on the program. Dr. Sandra Mosteller, assistant professor
of music, will present "Gollum's Dance" for clarinet and piano. Fellow
senior Jerod Hon of El Paso will perform "Recess" for trumpet and piano,
and Baker will sing "From..Queen Mab" for baritone and piano.

Hon will also perform WBU sophomore composer
Gabrielle Aapri's "Anthem" for trumpet and trombone, with senior James
Moss of Tahoka on trombone. Moss' percussion ensemble composition "I Thought
It Sounded Latin" will be performed by the seven-member Occasional Percussion
Ensemble. Aapri of Lubbock will also perform her original composition
"From Small Beginnings" on piano.

Original compositions by Belshaw which are to be performed
include "Camp Springs" for solo piano, performed by Gracie Glowicki, who
studies piano with Belshaw through the university's pre-collegiate and
community arts outreach program, the Academy of Fine Arts. The Plainview
Symphony Orchestra recently premiered an orchestral arrangement of "Camp
Springs" during its Silver Anniversary 25 th Season. "Take Another Lap"
for trombone, euphonium and tuba, is more of a fabric or texture, without
melody or theme and with very little rhythmic movement or motion. Its
static characteristic is precisely the point of the composition.

"On The Crosstown" for tenor and bass trombone was premiered in Washington
D.C. at the Eastern Trombone Workshop by the duo who commissioned the
work. James Moss and Travis McCullough, a sophomore from New Deal, will
present the Texas premier at the Composers' Recital. "On the Crosstown"
is a set of five short "theatrical" duos, featuring a set, costuming and
props in addition to performing. Each of the five duos aurally portrays
the kinds of people one would expect to find on mass transit, on a bus
or subway or train. These include "The First Passenger," "Blue Collars,"
"The Dullard" who can't see the need to yield his seat, "Old Friends,"
and finally "'Bone Gangstaz," in which the players are called upon to
perform the beat box rhythms from which the music of the duo is derived.

"New composers who are still waiting to be discovered need more and more
opportunities to perform and create," Belshaw said. "We believe our recital
represents a significant contribution to the arts in that regard."